• Here is Michael Brown’s Official Bio at the FEMA site:

    http://www.fema.gov/about/bios/brown.shtm

    Quote incase it get’s changed:

    Michael D. Brown was nominated by President George W. Bush as the first Under Secretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response in the newly created Department of Homeland Security in January 2003. As the head of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Under Secretary Brown leads federal disaster response and recovery operations and coordinates disaster activities with more than two dozen federal agencies and departments and the American Red Cross. He also oversees the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration, and initiates proactive mitigation activities.

    Additionally, Under Secretary Brown helps the Secretary of Homeland Security ensure the effectiveness of emergency responders, and directs the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Integration Center, the National Disaster Medical System and the Nuclear Incident Response Team.

    Under Secretary Brown has led Homeland Security’s response to more than 164 presidentially declared disasters and emergencies, including the 2003 Columbia Shuttle disaster and the California wildfires in 2003. In 2004, Mr. Brown led FEMA’s thousands of dedicated disaster workers during the most active hurricane season in over 100 years, as FEMA delivered aid more quickly and more efficiently than ever before.

    Previously, Mr. Brown served as FEMA’s Deputy Director and the agency’s General Counsel. Shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mr. Brown served on the President’s Consequence Management Principal’s Committee, which acted as the White House’s policy coordination group for the federal domestic response to the attacks. Later, the President asked him to head the Consequence Management Working Group to identify and resolve key issues regarding the federal response plan. In August 2002, President Bush appointed him to the Transition Planning Office for the new Department of Homeland Security, serving as the transition leader for the EP&R Division.

    Prior to joining FEMA, Mr. Brown practiced law in Colorado and Oklahoma, where he served as a bar examiner on ethics and professional responsibility for the Oklahoma Supreme Court and as a hearing examiner for the Colorado Supreme Court. He had been appointed as a special prosecutor in police disciplinary matters. While attending law school he was appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee of the Oklahoma Legislature as the Finance Committee Staff Director, where he oversaw state fiscal issues. His background in state and local government also includes serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight and as a city councilman.

    Mr. Brown was also an adjunct professor of law for the Oklahoma City University.

    A native of Oklahoma, Mr. Brown holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration/Political Science from Central State University, Oklahoma. He received his J.D. from Oklahoma City University’s School of Law.

    And a interesting article at Time.com:

    http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1103003,00.html

    This should lead to some interesting fall out…


  • Yeah, I read that a few days ago. I don’t really care about his past to be honest. It’s what is happening now that concerns me.


  • My hope is there is a bit more scrutiny with future appointments to positions such as this. I realize no one can do much about them, but still…with the hurricane we once again realized that the US is no immune to disasters and tragedy like we grow comfortable thinking, and need people in place to react and react with intelligence when they occur.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    While this may or may not be true, isn’t it even sadder to know that those people specifically elected by the people of New Orleans failed to do any better? They had billions and extensive plans and the best they could come up with is cower in the stadium??? They had how much warning? You’re telling me they couldnt have bussed out the poor on their own? It seems the middle and upper classes were perfectly capable of finding somewhere to vacation at the time of the hurricane.

    Why is it you’re so quick to point blame at a government agency that may or may not have had foreknowledge of the incident but most assuredly had to worry about no less then 50 times as much landmass as the local government that definately knew about it and failed to do their duty?


  • I blame FEMA because it’s their job…not anything else but to work with national emergencies…so it’s all well and fine to point out the local govt lost their top and didn’t do a good job, but to take 4 days for FEMA to organize a response is flat out unacceptable.

    And whats this may or may not have had foreknowledge of the incident? You have a computer machine with that weather thingy right? I believe they might have a slightly more advanced version of that and could tell at least 48 hours before it hit land they might want to brace for the worst.

    And the “they could have used all those school buses” remark is worthless - if the levee’s don’t break, New Orleans doesn’t flood like that and the people that “cowered” ( for real Jen, that was pretty cold and low, did you expect them to take up guns and fight the hurricane or something? ) but the levee’s did break and no one really thought they would. Granted they should have assumed they would and that fault is solely on the local govt.
    But FEMA’s job is to respond and fix national disasters and they failed this time around, Michael Brown’s resignation I hope shows FEMA is taking that blame.

    had to worry about no less then 50 times as much landmass

    Were there cat. 4 hurricanes headed for the rest of the landmass where they had to divert all attention away from the Gulf Coast?


  • Typical spoils-system appointment.


  • @Yanny:

    Typical spoils-system appointment.

    Very correct…and I am not bashing Bush per se with this comment as I am sure you have a ton of this with any appointed officials, but some of those guys I work with are just plain dumb. They might be good press faces but the common sense level or lack there of amazes me with a few of them.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Hax, it took 3 days to get supplies to New Orleans after authorization was given by the Governor. It took 6 days to get supplies to Florida that year they were hit with multiple hurricanes in a row.

    Sounds to me like FEMA spead the process up considerably. You can’t just wave a wand and make it all better, things like this take time. You have to get the supplies, move them to depots, load trucks, drive to the effected area (can’t use planes, the airport’s underwater!) you have to sail boats to the area, you then have to unload the trucks and begin to disseminate the materials.

    Meanwhile, the Salvation Army had all this prepared specifically FOR New Orleans a week before the hurricane hit. (okay, more like a few days, but it was still well in time to begin the process so it could go off the instant the winds died down and the rain stopped.) But the Mayor told them not to come, that the city had plans in place for this and would handle it themselves.

    This is 100% a local administration f*ck-up. You can’t put the blame anywhere else, which is why there’s no calls from the Democratic party for sweeping investigations. They know it’ll come out that it was a total FUBAR situation created by the local administrations which happen to be democrat. (I say happen to be, because they are not indicitive of all democrats, but their actions can be used by the republicans to color all democrats as bumbling idiots, theives and fools if this all comes out.)


  • Very correct…and I am not bashing Bush per se with this comment as I am sure you have a ton of this with any appointed officials, but some of those guys I work with are just plain dumb. They might be good press faces but the common sense level or lack there of amazes me with a few of them.

    Exactly. I don’t blame Bush specifically for this one because this is (unfortunately) what happens in politics. Democrat, Republican, doesn’t matter.


  • There were calls for investigation by the Democratic party the day after. And I realize it takes time to get supplies together, but does it take 4 days to get there - the main motorcade got there on Friday, the storm went mainland on Monday night.

    http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/katrina-timeline.php

    You can continue to blame the local government all day long, but looking at this timeline, the Gov of LA declared a national disaster state on Saturday, before the storm hit land, Bush freeing up the fed. funds two days later…sort of makes your remarks wrong now about the local folks not asking for help in time?

    And since you will declare that site “liberal media”:

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168413,00.html

    Now please show me where it took 6 days to get supplies into an area they could land planes, drive into and otherwise get aid to quickly re: Florida.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    @haxorboy:

    There were calls for investigation by the Democratic party the day after. And I realize it takes time to get supplies together, but does it take 4 days to get there - the main motorcade got there on Friday, the storm went mainland on Monday night.

    http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/katrina-timeline.php

    You can continue to blame the local government all day long, but looking at this timeline, the Gov of LA declared a national disaster state on Saturday, before the storm hit land, Bush freeing up the fed. funds two days later…sort of makes your remarks wrong now about the local folks not asking for help in time?

    And since you will declare that site “liberal media”:

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168413,00.html

    Now please show me where it took 6 days to get supplies into an area they could land planes, drive into and otherwise get aid to quickly re: Florida.

    Look up Floriday yourself. Personally, I just regurgitated what CNN said about how fast the FEMA organization got aid to NO in respect to how slow it took in FL.

    Edit: For more look at this thread:

    http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=77719#77719

    Also, the only time I heard of an official, written document declaring a disaster area by the Gov was days after the hurricane hit. Standing on television and crying doesn’t give the feds authority to do anything but “feel her pain.”


  • Were you not able to read both links I posted? One from the glorious Foxnews that is widely touted as being top dog on here?

    Still waiting on that link for Florida.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Did you not read the other thread?

    When did I ever tout Fox News as being the top news agency? I highly doubt I did at any point and will consider your statements as nothing but slander if you cannot give me at least 3 links where I did so.


  • One from the glorious Foxnews that is widely touted as being top dog on here?

    I never said you did…and it is for this reason I must depart this board. In light of recent events it seems that Jen can bash people all day long but if you stoop to her level then it is you that reaps the punishment. I made some good friends and wish you all the best in what ever you do.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    @haxorboy:

    @haxorboy:

    One from the glorious Foxnews that is widely touted as being top dog on here?

    I never said you did…and it is for this reason I must depart this board. In light of recent events it seems that Jen can bash people all day long but if you stoop to her level then it is you that reaps the punishment. I made some good friends and wish you all the best in what ever you do.

    You quote yourself and then contradict yourself??? huh???

    I didn’t bash you, I just said that I didn’t consider Fox news as top dog, personally.

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